Knowledge is power

Scientists are on schedule to put an end to the ethical debate about stem cell research. Stem cells are embryonic cells that can be programmed to grow into any type of cell. Stem cells are great because they could be used to grow new cells to replace unhealthy ones; one application, for example, would be growing new organs for transplant patients. The problem is that getting to stem cells requires an embryo that upon extraction of the cells must be destroyed.

In theory, embryonic stem cells can propagate themselves indefinitely and are able to become any type of cell in the body. But so far, the only way to obtain embryonic stem cells involves destroying an embryo, and to get a genetic match for a patient would mean, in effect, cloning that person — all of which raise difficult ethical questions.

The scientific journal Nature reports that MIT scientists have figured out a way to generate embryonic stem cells without the need of an embryo. The Nature article reports on the specific technique and cells used. The new method was used to grow a mouse verifying the scientists’ hypothesis. The same group and their colleagues from around the world are now working hard to repeat the experiments using human cells since at the current state the method does not yet work for human tissue. However, the researchers are convinced that achieving the same results with human cells is withing their grasp and maybe no more than a couple of years away.